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Tuesday, 23 October 2012

Boko Haram Commander is my nephew – Senator

The Director-General of the State Security Services (SSS),
Ita Ekpeyong has invited the Senator from whose home officials of the
Joint Task Force (JTF) in Maiduguri arrested a Boko Haram member.

The Joint Task Force, JTF, had on Thursday announced the arrest of a
suspected terrorist sect leader, Shuaib Mohammed Bama in Maiduguri, the
Borno capital, describing him as “a high profile Boko Haram Commander
who has been on the list of wanted terrorists operating between Bama and
Maiduguri.”

The SSS later linked Mr Bama to “a serving senator’s house along Damboa Road, GRA Maiduguri.”The Senator, who was later identified as Ahmed Zanna, representing
Borno Central Senatorial district, has denied the allegation that the
Boko Haram member was arrested in his house.

Mr Zanna, who spoke in Abuja, said there is a high level plot to frame him. He confirmed that he had been invited by the SSS.

“Since my house was searched and the JTF made the announcement, I
have not been contacted by security agencies. But it was only this
morning (Sunday), I saw a text that the SSS DG will want to see me on
Monday. I will honour the invitation.”

“What I am suspecting is that they want to frame me up.”

He denied any link to the Boko Haram sect, saying although the suspect is his nephew; he was not arrested in his apartment.

He said the suspect was arrested in a house belonging to a former
Governor of Borno State, who is currently a Senator, Ali Modu Sheriff.

The embattled Senator confirmed that the Boko Haram suspect is his “sister’s son”, who he had long kept at arm’s length.

“He beats up my children; he abuses my friends. He came to my house,
so I sent him away. That was about a year ago. And for whatever reason I
don’t know, he came to my house last week and I said he should leave
the house,” Mr Zanna said.

“Some time ago, he even threatened to kill his mother. So, the mother
was not even feeling comfortable living with him. And he narrated that
to me. That is why I also do not want him to be near me.

“I don’t know him to be a Boko Haram member. Never, never, I do not know him to be a member of Boko Haram.”

Mr Zanna said the JTF had been scheming to frame him because he has
always criticized their officials who go about the state committing
terrible human rights abuses in the name of hunting Boko Haram
insurgents.

“On Thursday, they went to my house. I was in Warri at that time; I
went for an oversight function. My wife called me; she said the army
people were at our gate. Actually, they went with four armoured vehicles
and about 40 of them came to my house.

“They searched all the rooms and when they went to the children’s
room, they broke all their cabinets and searched everywhere. When they
could not find anything, then they assembled all the boys in my
building, took them out and put them under the scorching sun. Actually,
before doing that, they beat them up. We had to take them to hospital
later.

“Under this traumatized condition, they asked them whether they know
one Shuaib Bama. They said, of course, they know when they see him.

“One of them was asked to go and show them where he is living. As
they were going, when they were about to reach the house, they stopped.
In fact, they blindfolded the boy. And one of the officers asked one of
the personnel to come down so that they should follow him to the house
without the boy telling them where the house is.

“So, as they started going, the other officer sitting down asked him:
‘If you know the house, then why should we pick this boy?’ And after
some arguments, they went to the house and arrested the boy.

“Contrary to the claim of the JTF, the boy was arrested on Rabi
Street, off Damboa Road. And the, the house belongs to Senator Ali Modu
Sheriff. Before, the house belonged to one Abba Mala, a Cameroonian. And
later, he sold it to late Tijjani Banki and Sheriff bought from Tijjani
Banki.

“I reacted because they said they arrested the boy in the house of a
serving Senator along Damboa Road and I am the one living along Damboa
Road.

“I really do not understand why they did all these. I am confused. If
they want to frame me up, they have failed in that one because they did
not get that boy in my house. I have nothing to do with it. Let them go
and ask the person where the boy was staying. So, they should not have
mentioned my house.”

“This story emanating from the JTF is actually as a result of an
interview which I carried out in BBC last week – asking for their
withdrawal from the state because they are not working according to the
rules of engagement.

“I noticed that they are just killing innocent people, killing them
unnecessarily, harassing their families, extorting money. All these have
been going on and I became so concerned. Particularly, the killing and
burning of houses became the order of the day.

“At least, 300 houses were burnt within the last one and a half
months. And it will not be an exaggeration for me to say that up to 500
people have been killed by the bullets of the JTF.

“I called for their withdrawal because even Boko Haram cannot do more
than that. If they have come to protect us, they are not supposed to
eliminate our young ones. Most of the people affected are young ones.

“According to the information I got yesterday, they have started even
killing old men. Somebody who was about 70 years old was killed. He was
sitting down, listening to a radio and a JTF man came and he said:

‘Baba come’. They just took him to a certain distance and shot him. This
is the type of things happening. So, my people are helpless. This
warranted me to react.”

The arrest of the suspected Boko Haram Commander is a major
breakthrough for the JTF and also gives credence to recent claims by
President Goodluck Jonathan that the sect has links with some government
officials.

Early this year, President Jonathan disclosed that Boko Haram had
infiltrated all levels of government, although he did not give details
of those involved.Channels